3Q Ticket Sales Charts: Ed Sheeran’s Record-Setting Tour Destroys All Comers

Sam Tabone / WireImage – Ed Sheeran
STADIUM PHENOM: “He is constantly working, constantly creating, and doing it with grace, humility, dignity, and a spirit that’s infectious,” Marty Diamond of Paradigm Talent Agency says of Ed Sheeran, here performing at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on March 9, 2018.

With the arrival of autumn and the end of 2018 looming in the not-too-distant future, we find ourselves entering the homestretch in this whirlwind of a year that has seen Ed Sheeran skyrocket to the top at a level previously hard to imagine for an artist with just a guitar, a microphone and 50,000 friends – night after night.

The 27-year-old pop star has owned the road in 2018, packing stadiums on four continents during the second year of his ÷ (Divide) tour. With third-quarter numbers tallied, he leads a field of strong touring artists with firm control of the No. 1 ranking in total tickets and gross sales on the list of Top 100 Tours. 

Since the beginning of January, the number of sold tickets from the tour totals 4,377,488 with an overall gross of $383.2 million. Those chart-topping figures come from 83 headlining concerts at 42 venues.

Yet there is company in hot pursuit of the English wunderkind – powerhouse personas that draw thousands to their own stadium playgrounds worldwide. Taylor Swift, Sheeran’s headlining road buddy once upon a time, follows in the second position on Pollstar’s 3Q ranking. She makes her mark with 2.4 million sold tickets and a combined gross of $289.2 million from 44 sellouts at 29 stadiums on her Reputation tour.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé earn their own 2018 touring glory based on 1.9 million sold seats and a $231.8 million box office take. The couple’s “On the Run II” tour takes the third slot in the rankings based on 44 reported shows at 35 venues in European and North American markets. Their 3Q counts include sales from all but the final four venues on the tour, but those should be reported in time for the year-end tallies. 

Aaron M. Sprecher / Invision for Parkwood Entertainment / AP Ima – Jay Z and Beyoncé
Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX

Swift has completed her final North American trek that ended with two final shows in the Dallas market on Oct. 5-6. Her world tour continues, however, and will head next to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. She could potentially come near the 3 million mark in ticket sales by the time the tour wraps.

Stadiums have been the key to success and blockbuster box office for all three of these tours this year. After playing primarily arenas during the first year of his ÷ tour, all of the action moved outdoors for Sheeran in 2018. 

Among Sheeran’s highest-grossing venues on the tour thus far, Wembley Stadium in London still leads the pack. Final box office stats from the four-night stint during this summer’s 21-city European leg amount to $28.7 million in revenue with a total ticket count of 299,013. Two other facilities with four-show engagements also top the $20 million mark in sales: Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium with $21.2 million and $20.8 million, respectively. The top numbers in North America occurred Sept. 21-22 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., taking in $11.2 million from 107,500 fans.

Sheeran began 2018 with 106 performances under his belt and $125 million grossed from 1.5 million sold tickets on the ÷ tour’s opening legs through Europe, the Americas and Asia. With those 2017 figures added to this year’s stadium run, his overall tour grosses since launch have already topped half a billion dollars. From 189 headlining performances reported to Pollstar, Sheeran has already performed for 5.8 million fans.

“We are humbled by the continuing success of the tour,” said Sheeran’s manager, Stuart Camp of Grumpy Old Management. “We always set out to get to play to as many people – in as many parts of the world – that wanted to see us. The run has been a testament to Ed’s broad appeal and the hard work of all our partners worldwide – be it the promoters, labels and, of course, our touring crew who are second to none.”

Louis Messina, founder and CEO of Messina Touring Group, North American promoter of the tour, shared his thoughts with Pollstar, stating, “Ed just amazes me night after night. For me seeing him grow into one of the biggest stars in the world is heartwarming. We are selling out everywhere and it’s only the beginning. I’m honored to work for Ed.”

Plans for the ongoing tour’s future do not stop with the end of the current jaunt through North American stadiums on Nov. 10. Sheeran is already booked for a series of 2019 dates that begins with three shows in South Africa in the spring. He will then head back home with a final sweep through Europe that kicks off in France on May 24 and wraps in the U.K. on Aug. 25.

The final word regarding the Sheeran phenomenon comes from agent Marty Diamond of Paradigm Talent Agency, who remarked, “Ed, unlike anyone else, has figured out a way and does it with grace and humor.” Diamond elaborated, “He has made it feel like you are part of his whole experience and has figured out how to engage the audience, excite the audience, quiet the audience at the appropriate moments – and that commanding presence is what’s the most magical thing about all of it.” He continues, “That only comes with a real serious artist connection. And he has that.”